Snowboards have been in use for a number of years, and snowboarding has become a popular winter sports activity. A snowboard is controlled by weight transfer and foot movement, both lateral and longitudinal. Precision edge control is especially important in alpine snowboarding activities where carving, rather than sliding, through the snow is desirable. Therefore, small movements of the snowboarder's feet within the boots can have significant effects on the user's control over the snowboard's movement. However, boot flexibility is also important for many recreational and freestyle snowboarding activities. Despite the widespread acknowledgment of the importance of these two desirable factors of edge control and flexibility, snowboard boots generally do not satisfactorily provide both.
To provide control, mountaineering-type boots have been used, especially in Europe. These boots include a molded plastic, stiff outer shell and a soft inner liner. The boots are mounted on the snowboard using mountaineering or plate bindings. Plate bindings are fastened to the board under the fore and aft portions of the sole of the boot and typically provide both heel and toe bails to secure the boot in place, usually without any safety release mechanism. These boots are stiff enough to provide the desired edge control and stability for carving. However, they are too stiff to allow significant lateral flexibility, a key movement in the sport that is essential for freestyle enthusiasts and desirable for all-around snowboarders. As a result, the mountaineering-type boots feel too constraining to many snowboarders.
Freestyle snowboarding requires more flexibility of the ankle of the snowboarder relative to the board than the mountaineering-type boots allow. Even all-around recreational snowboarding requires some boot flexibility. The stiff mountaineering-type boots offer little lateral flexibility and only marginal fore and aft flexibility. Because of the desire for flexibility, most American snowboarders have opted for an insulated snow boot combined with "soft-shell" bindings. These bindings have rigid bases attached to the board, highback shells, straps to wrap around the boot, and buckles to secure the straps in place. The boots, when removed from the bindings, are standard insulated snow boots or slightly modified snow boots. The flexibility gained from the soft boot and relatively soft binding results in less edge control than a mountaineering-type boot and difficult entry and release. The snowboarder may attempt to gain more edge control by tightening his binding straps around his boots. However, such overtightening may seriously sacrifice comfort. A related problem occurs every time the snowboarder reaches flat terrain, the bottom of the hill, or the chairlift. The snowboarder must unbuckle the straps of at least one binding to scoot along skateboard-style by pushing with the released foot. This may be time consuming and cumbersome, since proper securing and tightening of the binding is difficult. Disembarking from the chairlift with only one boot nonreleasably attached to the snowboard is also hazardous, since the leverage of the board on one ankle or knee could easily cause injury in a fall.
Manufacturers' attempts at providing both edge control and flexibility have centered around plate bindings for use with stiff mountaineering-type boots. Plate bindings offer ease of entry and release no buckles to unsnap or straps to tighten. They may also be made releasable in response to forces placed thereon during use. Plate binding manufacturers have approached the problem of lateral flexibility from several different angles. For example, one type of binding, made by Emery, offers a two-piece plate-one for the heel and the other for the toe. Under each toeplate and heelplate is a half-inch high rubber pad shaped in the form of a rectangle. The rubber ad is supposed to act as a shock absorber and provide side-to-side flex.
Other attempts have used adaptations of Swiss mountaineering bindings. A hard plate is mounted to the board. Two rectangular boxes--at the toe and heel--cradle a spring steel cage. Bails are connected to the cage and act as cantilevers in creating a side-to-side flex. However, such attempts may sacrifice some edge control by making the interface between boot and board too soft in order to achieve the desired lateral flexibility.
In general, the public has not been satisfied with the use of binding plates to solve the flexibility/control dichotomy and the ease of entry and exit problem. Those serious snowboarders who desire to both carve racing turns and "board" freestyle, purchase two boards and two sets of bindings and boots. Those who are simply recreational boarders or cannot afford the two-board luxury, generally settle on one type or the other, and thus sacrifice performance and/or convenience of one type or the other.
The boot and binding of the present invention solves the flexibility/control problem by proceeding in a different direction from past attempts. The invention provides a boot that allows most of the flexibility of the soft shell boot/binding while retaining the advantages of control and ease of entry and release of the mountaineering-type boot/binding arrangement. The invention thus allows greater comfort, convenience, all-around performance, and safety.